Now that many of the major companies are clearing out contracts, artists
and the like, and are also in the throes of selling out to conglomerates
etc., they will have, I am sure certain recordings held which now will be
ripe for issue. This will allow them to gain whatever revenue they can whilst
not having to record very much new material. The present disc would appear
to fall into this category. This disc is made up all of new items all going
back between 4 years (the Sinfonia Concertante, and over 10 years for the
other two items. These are released at full price which seems a little strange
to me.

The problem with this type of repertoire is that playing styles are changing
rapidly, and if these works were recorded today, it is possible that the
style would be a little different. Luckily for us, Franz Bruggen and his
band always was one of the better period orchestras and often played with
more style and greater accuracy than some of the contemporaneous groups when
the older of these recordings were made.

We have here performances of three of Haydn's major symphonic works, all
played very well, in first class digital stereo. Rhythms are well sprung,
instruments well blended and tempi are all non-controversial. The lightness
of phrasing is there, as is the accuracy of the intonation, and everything
sounds neat and tidy.

What to me seems to be missing is the interpretative spark. To hear what
I mean, we only have to compare this issue with the '54 issue of the
88th Symphony with that recorded by Wilhelm Furtwangler. O.K.
we have a modern orchestra, with steel strings, plus conventional woodwind
and brass, and numbers obviously greater than of the period band - but such
life in the earlier performance.

Listening to recorded music should try to convey the effects of a live perfomance
and that is precisely what Furtwangler does (although also caught in the
studio). The present issue, while perfectly acceptable, with no obvious flaws
in the playing or the style, sounds just like a studio bound playthrough.
This is in spite of all the characterisation and research which has gone
into the preparation of the current disc by Bruggen and his players.

I hope that you might enjoy this disc more than I did - it is not that it
is bad, it certainly isn't. It is just that there are better performances
about.

Reviewer

John Phillips

zzzzSummary Good, stylish, but a little earthbound performances
of three of Haydn's mature symphonic works, in a first issue of a ten year
old recording at full price.